Valentine's Day Ruined
by Chasyn
Summary: It wasn't their first Valentine's day. It would actually be their fourth Valentine's day. Not really an important number except it was because it was the first Valentine's day since their wedding. This would be their first as a newlywed couple. Most marriages failed in their first year and Claire was determined to not be included in that statistic. (Claire/Zara, short, drabble.)


Just a little Valentine's Day drabble, with Claire and Zara.

**Ruined**

It wasn't their first Valentine's day. Far from it. They'd been together a little over four years. It would actually be their fourth Valentine's day. Not really an important number. Except it was. Because it was the first Valentine's day since their wedding. The wedding was back in early November. A lovely, fall day. And this Valentine's would be their first as a newlywed couple. Most marriages failed in their first year and Claire was determined to not be included in that statistic.

Zara had been busy, more busy than Claire in the last few months, ever since she took over as the head of the practically non-existent before public relations department for the island. She single handedly was trying to change the image of the island since the indominus incident. Right now, she was focusing on baby dinosaurs. Babies were tiny and chubby and cute and non-threatening. And in high demand, since most of the animals were killed by Ida (damn Owen for naming her). The lab was busy producing new viable eggs as fast as they could. Many park attractions needed filled. Naming contests and videos and live feeds of the new editions were hits. They'd even "adopted" out a few of the babies. Rich investors shelled out lots of money to pick out a baby, name it, and then get access to video feeds and pictures. And an offer to come to the island to meet their adopted dino, if they wanted.

With everything on Zara's plate, she hardly had time for anything. And that included Claire. Zara was hardly at home and when she was, she was sleeping. She was always tired or always on the phone. Claire would watch Zara and think how she was once that busy. And how when Claire was in her own little work world, Zara had been the only one able to distract her. But romantic notions were not Claire's forte. Zara had always been the one to plan everything. Their first date, first month anniversary, every significant anniversary, holidays, vacations, not to mention their wedding. Claire had never planned anything that they'd done together.

But she wracked her brain and tried her hardest and thought maybe, she hadn't done half bad. "Zara, honey... we're going to be late!" Claire stood at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a short, elegant ivory beaded dress. Her hair was pulled up, tight and not a single strand out of place. She bit her lip nervously as she watched the top of the stairs, waiting.

"I'm ready." Zara called out from the kitchen. Claire spun on her heels, her eyes wide. What? How was Zara ready before her? Claire hadn't seen her getting ready. Zara strode out a moment later, a smile on her face. She was dressed in a floor length, charcoal colored dress that sparkled in the light. Her hair was curled in spirals. "You look amazing." She said, stepping towards Claire. She reached out and grabbed Claire's hand. "I love that color on you."

Claire smiled as Zara pressed a kiss to her hand. Damnit. Claire was trying to plan the perfect date and Zara was already outshining her. "You look beautiful." Claire said. "You always take my breath away."

Zara's smile only widened. "Didn't you say we'll be late?"

Claire's eyes widened. "Yes!" She hated being late. It was her biggest pet peeve. Zara let out a laugh and stepped back towards the door. She pulled Claire with her and they headed out to the car. Claire stepped in front of Zara and reached to open the door for her. Zara slipped in and Claire closed the door. She hurried to the driver's side and got in.

They didn't get very far before Zara's phone rang. She let out a sigh as she pulled it out. "Sorry." She said, putting the phone to her ear. "Good evening, Mr. Spencer. What can I do for you?" She asked. Claire pulled the car off the road and slowed to a stop. She could hear the man yelled over the line. Zara was trying to calm him down, but it didn't sound like he could be placated. "I assure you." Zara said into the phone. "Caighlyn is alive. I don't know what your daughter saw on the internet but it was a lie."

Claire frowned. _What's going on?_ She mouthed the question.

Zara angled the phone away from her mouth and covered the receiver. "Mr. Spencer adopted the new Huayangosaurus last week for his daughter. He said she saw some video online that Caighlyn died."

"The... hango-whatever?" Claire attempted to repeat.

Zara nodded and put the phone back to her ear. "Mr. Spencer, she'd just fine! She caught a cold but... no!"

Claire put the car in gear and started down the road. "Tell him you're on the way to the nursery now." Claire said.

Zara glanced over at her. "You sure?"

Claire nodded. "You'll take a video."

Zara breathed out. "I'm on my way to the nursery. I will take a video and call you back." She hung up the phone and leaned back in her seat. "Damnit." She breathed out. She shook her head and lifted her phone, intent on trying to figure out exactly what happened. Claire pulled to a stop in front of the nursery. They got out and Zara hurried to the door. She pulled out her badge and swiped it. She spared barely a glance at the kid behind the desk and walked down the hall.

The kid's eyes widened. "Mrs. Young!" Then he mouth fell open as he noticed Claire. "Mrs. Dearing!" His face turned white and he hurried to follow. "What going on?"

Zara didn't slow. "Caighlyn, the Huayangosaurus."

He nodded. "Yeah, the Hango."

Zara rolled her eyes. "Josh, a video was recorded from inside her pen, of her from yesterday, when she was sick." She said. "She coughed so hard, she fell down and the video was edited to make it look like she was dead."

"Oh..." Josh said slowly.

Claire stopped and turned towards him. "Did you have something to do with this?"

"Uh..." He stuttered for a moment.

"Do you know who did?" Claire pressed.

Zara stopped at Caighlyn's door and turned. "If you do not tell me what's going on, I will fire you right now!"

Claire gasped. "Zara!"

She lifted her hand to wag a finger at him. "You were here yesterday, Josh!" Zara snapped. "One of our top investors is threatening to pull funding and sue!"

"My little brother was in there!" He said in a single breath. "He's 12... I left him alone for like 10 minutes when my girlfriend called."

Zara narrowed her eyes. "I will personally be reviewing all the surveillance videos. Get back to your desk. No unauthorized personnel in the baby pens without my consent! Especially when the babies are sick!" She snapped loudly.

Josh scurried off, looking like he might wet himself.

Claire smiled as she watched. Damn.

Zara opened the door and hurried in. The floor was covered with grass, straw, and patches of mud. Zara stalked right through it, sparing not even a thought about her shoes or dress. "Caighlyn." She called, looking around the pen. It was about 12 by 12 foot. There was movement in the corner and a tiny head popped out of a pile of straw. Zara smiled as she stepped closer. She knelt down. "Hey little one. Can you come out?" Caighlyn let out a squeak as she slowly stepped out of the straw. She shook herself, shaking the loose pieces of straw from her back and tail. Zara smiled as she pulled out her phone.

Claire stepped forward and leaned in the doorway. She smiled as she watched Zara. It was rather sweet and cute.

Zara let out a laugh as Caighlyn started bouncing around her. "You're feeling better, aren't you little one?" She redialed Mr. Spencer's number and put the phone to her ear. "I'm right here with Caighlyn. If you want, we can turn on video call and I can show you." Zara hit the video button and turned the phone around. "See, Rosey? Caighlyn is fine."

The little girl on the phone let out a loud giggle. The was about five years old. "Hi, Caighlyn!" She squealed and waved her hand.

Zara laughed again. "Yes, see? I told your dad, she's fine."

"Daddy said she was sick." Rosey said.

"Yes." Zara answered.

"Did she have the chicken disease?" Rosey asked.

Zara frowned for a moment. "Chicken?"

"Chicken pox?" Claire said, stepping closer.

"With itchy bumps." Rosey said, frowning. "Daddy made me stay in bed for a year!"

There was a laugh. "It was four days, sweetie." The dad said.

"Nuh-uh!" Rosey said, shaking her head. "It was a year!"

Zara smiled. "She just had a bad cold."

"So what happened?" Mr. Spencer asked.

"We think an employee let their little brother in unattended." Zara answered. "He took a video of when she was the sickest. Poor thing kept coughing and sneezing so hard, she'd fall over."

"Awwwww!" Rosey strung out. "Did you hug her?"

"Rosey..." Her father started.

"She needs a hug!" Rosey snapped.

"I'll hug her for you." Claire said, bending down. "Caighlyn, come here." Caighlyn bounced a bit more before bouncing towards Claire. She was still small, barely the side of a beagle. Claire smiled as she bent over and picked up the squirming baby. She was mindful of the spikes as she hugged her. Then she set her down and watched as she bounced off again.

"Caighlyn says thank you!" Rosy giggled.

"Here, Rosey. Let daddy have the phone."

"When can I hug her myself?" She asked.

"Just as soon as the doctor clears you."

Zara rook the phone off video and put it to her ear. "I'm sorry about the whole situation, Mr. Spencer. I assure you, it won't happen again."

The man sighed. "No, I'm sorry. Looks like I interrupted your evening."

"No, no, no, it's fine." Claire said loudly.

"She just... she started screaming and crying..." He sighed loudly.

"We will make sure it doesn't happen again." Zara promised.

"Thank you." He said.

"I'll make sure to get some new pictures and a video up tight, to stop the rumors." She said goodbye and hung up the phone. She straightened up and handed her phone to Claire. "Can you take a quick video?" She asked. "I'm going to check the cameras. Make sure everything is okay."

Claire nodded and started recording. She watched as Caighlyn got her ball and pushed it around with her nose. By the time Zara returned, the baby huyangosaurus had fallen asleep, curled up in Claire's lap. Claire looked up at Zara and smiled. "She ran around too much, wore herself out. I sat down for a moment and she climbed in my lap."

Zara nodded solemnly and sunk down beside Claire. She leaned back against the wall with a sigh.

Claire frowned. "Honey, is something wrong?"

"Your dress is ruined." Zara said softly.

Claire shrugged slightly. "So is yours." She pointed out. "We'll go shopping together before out next date night." She said with a smile.

Zara sighed again. "I ruined the whole night." She said softly.

Claire shook her head. "No. You didn't." She reached over and grabbed Zara's hand. She held it tightly. "You ruined nothing. It wasn't your fault."

"But you worked so hard."

Claire tilted her head to the side. "Not really." She admitted softly. "I might have gotten help."

Zara's eyes widened slightly. "Who?"

Claire looked down at the sleeping dinosaur in her lap. "Owen." She mumbled.

Zara let out a soft laugh. "You must have been really desperate to ask Owen."

This time Claire let out a sigh. "I might have been a little worried."

"About what?"

Claire touched her hand to one of Caighlyn's spikes. She focused on it for a moment. "Most marriages end within the first year." She said softly. "I was... starting to worry... we were drifting apart."

Zara's eyes widened. "Oh sweetie, no! I'm so sorry if I made you feel that way!"

"No." Claire shook her head. "It's just my insecurities."

Zara lifted Claire's hand to her lips and pressed a kiss to it. "I love you." She said. "I love you more than anything. You are my soulmate, my everything, Claire. I'm sorry if I don't say it enough."

Claire leaned forward pressed a chaste kiss to Zara's lips. "I love you, too."

Zara smiled. "I'm sorry we missed dinner."

"We could call the pizza place."

Zara cocked an eyebrow. "Order a pizza? Right here?"

Claire nodded and maybe, the night wasn't ruined afterall.


End file.
